Sr. Director, Brand Communications & Creative

Just Salad is in growth mode, with new stores, new markets, and a brand that needs to show up consistently and compellingly everywhere we operate. We're looking for a Sr. Director, Brand Communications & Creative to own how the brand speaks and shows up for our guests, from communication strategy and brand voice to creative direction and campaign leadership. In line with Just Salad’s mission to make everyday health and sustainability possible, you will also support initiatives to reduce Just Salad’s environmental footprint.

In year one, the priority is building the engine: a scalable brand voice, a clear creative standard, and a campaign process that gets great work out the door efficiently. This is a senior leadership role for someone who has done this before and is ready to do it again at a company with real momentum.

This position sits in our Corporate office and must be in person - not remote.

Reporting & Scope

• Reports to: CMO; Senior marketing leadership team
• Direct reports: Director, Visual Identity; Copywriter; Project Coordinator
• Works closely with: All marketing directors: Growth · Field · Partnerships & Social · Catering

Core Responsibilities Communication strategy & brand voice

• Define and own Just Salad's communication strategy across all consumer touchpoints
• Build and maintain Just Salad's brand voice and messaging framework
• Own content strategy for email, SMS, app, and web for product and menu launches
• Own promotion communication, ensuring offers and LTOs are messaged with clarity and brand consistency

Brand storytelling & creative direction

• Shape how Just Salad tells its brand story across marketing and in-store
• Partner with Director, Visual Identity to ensure message and design work as one
• Maintain brand consistency across a rapidly growing store footprint
• Lead creative reviews and approve work before it goes out the door

Campaign leadership

• Set campaign strategy and the integrated campaign calendar for menu launches, LTOs, seasonal moments, and promotions
• Write and approve integrated briefs that align creative, paid, social, and field
• Partner with the Partnerships team to lead brand and celebrity campaigns across paid, owned, and in-store
• Guide new store opening and local store marketing campaigns with Field Marketing
• Oversee campaign execution through the Project Coordinator, setting the process, timelines, and quality bar

Team & cross-functional leadership

• Lead and develop the Brand Communications & Creative team
• Partner with partnerships, social media, ops, culinary, and field teams to bring campaigns to life in market
• Optimize ways of working across marketing to improve speed and quality of output
• Set and maintain quality standards for all brand communications output

Qualifications Required

• 10+ years in brand, marketing communications, or creative
• Proven track record leading integrated campaigns from strategy through execution
• Hands-on knowledge of campaign workflow (briefing, timelines, approvals, trafficking), with the ability to build the process and coach others to run it
• Experience managing and developing a creative or brand team
• Strong instincts for brand voice: you can write a brief, review copy, and give clear feedback
• Comfortable working cross-functionally at speed in a fast-paced, high-output environment
• Experience in food, retail, or fast casual strongly preferred

Nice to have

• Experience leading brand through a period of rapid geographic expansion
• Background owning email, SMS, or CRM content strategy
• Experience with new store opening or local store marketing campaigns
• Experience managing brand and celebrity partnership campaigns
• Familiarity with multi-unit restaurant or retail marketing

Benefits:

• Salary range: $165,000 - $185,000 

• Bonus: Eligible to participate in our Just Salad’s Corporate Bonus program. 

• Paid vacation, holidays, and sick time

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance

• Voluntary Long-Term Disability, Hospital Indemnity, Accident, Life + AD&D Insurance

• Employee Assistance Program

• Eligibility to participate in our 401K program

• Pre-tax benefits (FSA, HSA, and Commuter Benefits)

• Fitness discounts

• Summer Fridays

• Free Just Salad

About Us:

Just Salad is a fast-casual restaurant chain with a mission to make everyday health and sustainability possible. The brand serves craveable, accessible, plant-centric meals made with homemade dressings, prepped-daily produce, from-scratch recipes and fresh, flavorful ingredients. Guests can choose from over 15 chef-designed salads, wraps, warm bowls, market plates, soups and smoothies, including classic offerings and rotating seasonal favorites. Empowering customers to “Eat with Purpose,” Just Salad is a Certified B Corporation™ and home to the world’s largest restaurant reusable bowl program, as well as the first U.S. restaurant chain to carbon label its menu and offer a Climatarian menu category. The company was founded in 2006 and has more than 125 locations across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.

Just Salad is in growth mode, with new stores, new markets, and a brand that needs to show up consistently and compellingly everywhere we operate. We're looking for a Sr. Director, Brand Communications & Creative to own how the brand speaks and shows up for our guests, from communication strategy and brand voice to creative direction and campaign leadership. In line with Just Salad’s mission to make everyday health and sustainability possible, you will also support initiatives to reduce Just Salad’s environmental footprint.

In year one, the priority is building the engine: a scalable brand voice, a clear creative standard, and a campaign process that gets great work out the door efficiently. This is a senior leadership role for someone who has done this before and is ready to do it again at a company with real momentum.

This position sits in our Corporate office and must be in person - not remote.

Reporting & Scope

• Reports to: CMO; Senior marketing leadership team
• Direct reports: Director, Visual Identity; Copywriter; Project Coordinator
• Works closely with: All marketing directors: Growth · Field · Partnerships & Social · Catering

Core Responsibilities Communication strategy & brand voice

• Define and own Just Salad's communication strategy across all consumer touchpoints
• Build and maintain Just Salad's brand voice and messaging framework
• Own content strategy for email, SMS, app, and web for product and menu launches
• Own promotion communication, ensuring offers and LTOs are messaged with clarity and brand consistency

Brand storytelling & creative direction

• Shape how Just Salad tells its brand story across marketing and in-store
• Partner with Director, Visual Identity to ensure message and design work as one
• Maintain brand consistency across a rapidly growing store footprint
• Lead creative reviews and approve work before it goes out the door

Campaign leadership

• Set campaign strategy and the integrated campaign calendar for menu launches, LTOs, seasonal moments, and promotions
• Write and approve integrated briefs that align creative, paid, social, and field
• Partner with the Partnerships team to lead brand and celebrity campaigns across paid, owned, and in-store
• Guide new store opening and local store marketing campaigns with Field Marketing
• Oversee campaign execution through the Project Coordinator, setting the process, timelines, and quality bar

Team & cross-functional leadership

• Lead and develop the Brand Communications & Creative team
• Partner with partnerships, social media, ops, culinary, and field teams to bring campaigns to life in market
• Optimize ways of working across marketing to improve speed and quality of output
• Set and maintain quality standards for all brand communications output

Qualifications Required

• 10+ years in brand, marketing communications, or creative
• Proven track record leading integrated campaigns from strategy through execution
• Hands-on knowledge of campaign workflow (briefing, timelines, approvals, trafficking), with the ability to build the process and coach others to run it
• Experience managing and developing a creative or brand team
• Strong instincts for brand voice: you can write a brief, review copy, and give clear feedback
• Comfortable working cross-functionally at speed in a fast-paced, high-output environment
• Experience in food, retail, or fast casual strongly preferred

Nice to have

• Experience leading brand through a period of rapid geographic expansion
• Background owning email, SMS, or CRM content strategy
• Experience with new store opening or local store marketing campaigns
• Experience managing brand and celebrity partnership campaigns
• Familiarity with multi-unit restaurant or retail marketing

Benefits:

• Salary range: $165,000 - $185,000 

• Bonus: Eligible to participate in our Just Salad’s Corporate Bonus program. 

• Paid vacation, holidays, and sick time

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance

• Voluntary Long-Term Disability, Hospital Indemnity, Accident, Life + AD&D Insurance

• Employee Assistance Program

• Eligibility to participate in our 401K program

• Pre-tax benefits (FSA, HSA, and Commuter Benefits)

• Fitness discounts

• Summer Fridays

• Free Just Salad

About Us:

Just Salad is a fast-casual restaurant chain with a mission to make everyday health and sustainability possible. The brand serves craveable, accessible, plant-centric meals made with homemade dressings, prepped-daily produce, from-scratch recipes and fresh, flavorful ingredients. Guests can choose from over 15 chef-designed salads, wraps, warm bowls, market plates, soups and smoothies, including classic offerings and rotating seasonal favorites. Empowering customers to “Eat with Purpose,” Just Salad is a Certified B Corporation™ and home to the world’s largest restaurant reusable bowl program, as well as the first U.S. restaurant chain to carbon label its menu and offer a Climatarian menu category. The company was founded in 2006 and has more than 125 locations across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.